Khorasan Group Planned To Attack Commercial Airplanes With Concealed Explosives

From CNN:

Among the targets of U.S. strikes across Syria early Tuesday was the Khorasan Group — a collection of senior al Qaeda members who have moved into Syria. President Obama called them “seasoned al Qaeda operatives.” 

“Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people,” Obama said. 

The strikes targeted “training camps, an explosives and munitions production facility, a communication building and command and control facilities,” the military said in a statement. The group was actively plotting against a U.S. homeland target and Western targets, a senior U.S. official told CNN on Tuesday. 

The United States hoped to surprise the group by mixing strikes against it with strikes against ISIS targets. The plots were believed to be in an advanced stage, the second U.S. official said. 

There were indications that the militants had obtained materials and were working on new improvised explosive devices that would be hard to detect, including common hand-held electronic devices and airplane carry-on items such as toiletries. 

The intelligence community discovered Khorasan plots against the United States within the past week, an intelligence source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. 

The intelligence source did not give an intended target but said the plots involved a bomb made of a nonmetallic device, toothpaste container, and clothes dipped in explosive material.